The celebration of Fermanagh businesses went far beyond the reach of the local area, thanks to the power of social media. The hashtag for the Fermanagh Herald Business Awards, #FHBA15, was so popular on Twitter on the night that it quickly became a trending topic in Ireland, meaning it was one of the hottest topics in the country, alongside international stories and events such as the Rugby World Cup, and the calls for FIFA president Sepp Blatter to resign. 

 

The exposure for Fermanagh businesses was phenomenal, with tweets about the Awards potentially achieving 3.5million views on Twitter. Those who weren’t in attendance on the night were able to keep up with the Awards through the live tweeting of the winners and runners up, and congratulatory tweets from across Ireland helped to make the Awards one of the top trends in the country. Even almost two weeks on the positive legacy of the awards is still evident.

 

Aine Berminghan, who runs Utter Digital, a local company that provides digital marketing services and primarily specialises in social media marketing explained the significance of the exposure and trending in Ireland.

 

“It really is a fantastic achievement for a local event. If you look at the top trends at the time when  the Fermanagh Herald was trending it was right up there with the biggest news stories and the biggest TV programmes on the night, national and International. The likes of the Graham Norton Show and the Late Late Show in terms of TV, the Rugby World Cup and Sepp Blatter. So basically the biggest news stories of the day.

 

“These are International news stories and then you have a local event alongside them. What it means is that people who are watching the trends actually look at what this is about and find out who is involved. It is just gaining more and more exposure and getting the word out there about Fermanagh businesses and their successes and the achievements. It would be quite common to see national events trending in Ireland, but a small local event in the top trends is quite an achievement.”

 

She added:

“Local businesses just don’t get that type of exposure and it’s free. You don’t get that for free anywhere else, which is fantastic for local business and it just shows how local businesses can achieve so much more on social media.”